One ugly part of the US economy continues to bleed jobs

Data out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday showed
the US economy added 292,000 jobs in December
and the
unemployment rateheld steady at 5%.

But one struggling American industry continues to bleed
jobs: mining.

"Mining and logging employment decreased by 8,000 in
December," according to the BLSreport.
"This was the industry's twelfth consecutive month of
employment decline. Mining and logging has lost
131,000 jobs since December 2014."

"Mining drives the employment trend in this sector and
accounts for essentially all losses over the month (-8,000) and
over the year (-129,000)," the report added. "These losses were
concentrated in support activities for mining."

Notably, "mining" includes the oil industry and, more
specifically, the oil drillers. Given that oil prices have been
low all year —
and are still dropping — it's not unsurprising that
jobs in that industry were hit hard over the past
year.

BLS

This plunge looks particularly stunning relative to the
service sector's strength, which you can see in the chart shared
byDeutsche Bank's Torsten Sløk: